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Internet TV provider Aereo reportedly has held discussions with pay-TV distributors and Internet service providers about forming partnerships. Aereo, which offers online streams of local TV stations, has laid out aggressive plans to expand beyond its sole market of New York City. The Barry Diller-backed company is embroiled in lawsuits with broadcasters that may have held up any agreements with ISPs or pay-TV providers, according to a published report.

Related Summaries

Aereo, the Barry Diller-backed streaming startup, is nothing more than "opportunistic piracy," Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney/ABC Television Group, said at a conference Wednesday. "With all due respect [to Diller], it's taking advantage of our content," Sweeney said. In related news, CBS has asked a federal court to dismiss an Aereo lawsuit that seeks a declaratory judgment in favor of its service.

Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia is not discouraging speculation about his online TV antenna company partnering with multichannel TV providers -- possibly a telecom -- a potential move that worries broadcasters, who would lose the retransmission-consent payments they receive from pay-TV companies. One industry observer, however, opines that considerable technical and economic hurdles stand in the way of an Aereo partnership. Aereo's relatively lower-quality signal and the high cost of IP bandwidth would discourage such a marriage, according to this article.

A federal appeals court's decision that streaming startup Aereo is not in violation of copyright law gives the Barry Diller-backed company at least a year to develop its business before other courts weigh in, Jeff John Roberts writes. "[C]onsumers will become more familiar with Aereo and other over-the-top TV options -- meaning it will be harder than ever for the traditional TV industry to persuade consumers to stick with an expensive bundle-of-channels model," he writes.

ABC, CBS and NBC have joined in one lawsuit alleging copyright infringement by Barrydriller.com, a site that, like Barry Diller-backed Aereo, streams network content to subscribers. The site owner, Alki David, has agreed to discontinue network streaming for the time being while saying nonetheless that the service has a right to do so.

Startup NimbleTV is launching a test of a service to allow pay-TV customers to transfer all of a subscription's programming online for streaming. The service is akin to a virtual version of Slingbox, which allows users to access their DVR content, but NimbleTV doesn't require boxes, according to this article. NimbleTV hopes to avoid the litigation that has embroiled Aereo, a startup that streams broadcast content, by acting as an "agent" for users who are subscribing to cable or satellite plans.